Jo's Memory
by AppleLass
Summary: There's an explosion and the key to figuring out what happened is locked in Jo's memory. Jo/Zane.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This takes place sometime after Omega Girls (4x15), but ignores the Astraeus mission plot line entirely. It's a Jo/Zane story at the heart of it all. I don't own Eureka or its characters, and I'm not making any money off of this.

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The explosion shook all the windows on Main Street and set off the alarms of half the cars parked on the street. The shrapnel radius was well defined, but even if it hadn't been, it would not have taken long for Jo Lupo to find where it originated. The explosives had been residing in a car right next to where she had been standing. From where she lay on the ground, there seemed to be little left of the car or the driver.

She was luckily to be alive, she reflected. The pain was excruciating, but it was better than being numb. There was no way she was going to be able to stand. Not for the first time she missed her old Special Forces Unit - back then, there was always someone to help you up and out of the danger zone. Now, she could only watch the fire and pray that it didn't hit a pocket of gasoline.

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Vincent had been waving to a regular customer out the window when he felt the ground shake. "Everyone inside!" he called out, and his clientele, now used to such emergency situations, responded with alacrity. He rushed to the door to rush in the diners seated outside on the patio, but was stopped by the blaze that greeted him down the street. Not only that, there was a person on the ground, obviously alive and moving, but unable to get out of the way by themselves.

"Make sure everyone stays inside!" he shouted at the new waitress, taking the towel she held limply in her hand. He held it over his face as he bolted down the street as fast as he was able. He was on his feet all day long so he wasn't completely out of shape, but none of his daily exercise usually included running. As he got closer he realized, with sickening recognition, the the survivor was Jo Lupo, head of security at GD and former deputy sheriff. She was usually the one running to everyone else's rescue, and now there didn't seem to be anybody else coming to her aid.

What made him mad were the people on the other side of the street, just standing and watching. He shouted something at them, probably about calling an ambulance or something, but really his mind was on Jo. She was sooty, her clothing tattered and her face covered with blood. She was using her hands to drag herself along the asphalt, silent tears, likely of pain, running down her face. She didn't seem to be using her legs at all to help herself along.

He knew that he shouldn't move her, but the blaze behind her had engulfed another car. He crouched down. "Jo? I'm going to pick you up, okay?" She nodded. Her bloody hands grabbed at his chest as he tried to pick her up as gently as he could, and he imagined she was as delicate as spun sugar.

XXXXX

Jack Carter made another unannounced visit to Global Dynamics. Specifically, a medical bay where Allison was working. Sometimes, on a slow day, he liked to stop in just to see her smile. He couldn't get over the feeling that this was just _right_ somehow. He found her, Zane, and a lab technician puzzling over a computer screen.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

"Hmm? Jack What are you doing here?"

"Things were getting slow at the station and I had some paperwork I needed signed off on by a few of your personnel relating to last week's incident at Cafe Diem. I thought I would stop by." He put his hands in his pockets and smiled as she walked over and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"This computer has been getting odd error messages when Dr. Timothy here logs on in the morning and I'm concerned it's a security issue."

"Like somebody is trying to hack into GD through the computer?"

"Something like that," Zane affirmed, his voice distracted and eyes focused on the screen. The chair was pushed back and he stood, a frown etched on his forehead.

Carter's phone rang. He looked at the number - one he didn't recognize - and flipped it open. "Carter."

He listened for a moment, trying to make sense of the hurried voices and the alarms in the background. He started to understand what was going on just as another call came in. "Ma'am - ma'am - I'm on my way." He hung up and took the next call, which was exactly the same. He ignored a third, also from a number he didn't have in his phone.

"What's going on?" Allison asked, concerned.

"There's been an accident on Main Street."

"Is anyone hurt?" There was worry in Allison's voice, but she stood straighter and her eyes darted to the equipment she would need to turn the medical bay into a triage center.

"So far only one confirmed." Carter's eyes drifted to Zane, who was busy trying not to look like he was listening. "It's Jo."

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After Carter jogged out, Zane stood motionless in front of the computer screen, fingers frozen on the keyboard. He had the urge to run after Carter, to be there. He felt a warm hand on his back; Allison. "The first place they'll bring any of the injured is here."

He shrugged off her knowing voice. "Whatever. I'll finish installing this surveillance system and then get of your way."

But he took as long as possible to do it, and even after he was finished and should have left he pulled up the traffic cameras of Main Street and zeroed in on the chaos. Rewound it, watching the events that had transpired. He pulled out his PDA and thumbed the button the ejected the flash drive that was housed in it. He copied clips onto it before exiting out and returning the screen to its home position.

While he had been occupied, Allison and Dr. Timothy had set up the room to receive the injured. The first one to arrive was Jo, carried in on a stretcher. Zane's face paled when he saw how much blood she was covered in, all presumably her own. Allison was giving orders and Zane moved to the other side of the room, but he was reluctant to leave just yet. He wanted, maybe even needed, to see how she was. To make sure she was okay. But from the expressions of the medical technicians rushing around, every one of which was either an MD or PhD, it didn't look like she was okay. And if that was the case, he didn't want to be elsewhere.

It was hard, the waiting. The watching. They wheeled her into a smaller room to operate, but he watched through the glass. The doctor's pulled a curtain in front of the window as they started to cut open her clothing, and Zane realized it was for the best. He wanted to pace, to wait, but at the same time he was ashamed to let others see how upset he was. Never mind that he wasn't the only one.

Vincent had come in a short time after Jo, blood covering his apron. It was only when Vincent stood next to him did Zane realize that Vincent wasn't one of the ones who were hurt. The bigger man was rubbing his upper arms as if he were cold.

"You okay, Vincent?" Zane asked.

Barely noticing Zane was there, Vincent nodded. His gaze was fixed beyond the glass and the curtain, to where Jo was. If Vincent was going to stay, Zane might as well. At some point Zoe Carter showed up, but the awkwardness Zane was afraid would be there never emerged, and the three of them stood there, waiting.

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I do seem to have more inspiration to write when it's on hiatus and there's a while to wait for more. I don't own Eureka or the characters. I'm not making any money off of this.

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"Hey Jo." Jo opened her eyes at the sound of Carter's voice. She smiled stiffly, and wasn't sure how well it came out.

"Hey Carter. Why do I feel like I've been hit by a truck?"

He coughed a little and looked down at his feet before meeting her gaze. "You were hit by a van, Jo. Well, pieces of one. Can you remember anything about what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday?" How much time had she lost? She blinked, trying to recall. This always happened when she was injured; she would lose chunks of time. Only from Carter's expression, it seemed as if this time those chunks of time were really important.

He nodded encouragingly. "You were in Eureka, on Main Street. There was an explosion."

"That sounds like Eureka," she tried to joke, but there was a sharp pain in her side and she winced mid-delivery. "I was at GD, and I got a call about an unauthorized delivery. I left to go..." She shook her head. She felt fuzzy and slow and obviously on copious amounts of pain medications. "I'm sorry. I can't remember any more right now. Maybe in when I can think straight..."

"Hey, its okay. We'll figure it out. You just concentrate on getting better."

Carter wasn't telling her the whole truth. Jo just didn't have the energy to care. Carter left, and as he did Zoe walked in. She came over and hugged her gently. "Jo! I was so worried! Well, we've been so worried. We've been waiting forever! The surgery went on for longer than Allison told us it would but we couldn't leave."

"We? Who are you talking about?"

"Zane, Vincent and me. I keep thinking they're going to give in and leave, but neither of them has. I think they're almost egging each other on."

Jo frowned in confusion. "But Carter said I've been here since yesterday." Her eyes swept the clearly GD-outfitted room. "They both have jobs."

Zoe shook her head. "They've been doing them here. Well, Zane has. He brought in a computer and has been working remotely from his lab. And Vincent left Cafe Diem in charge of his new sous chef and has been make sandwiches around the clock for the doctors here."

"I don't understand..." Even as she said it, she realized that was a a lie. "Well, I can kind of understand about Zane. Things between us ... aren't resolved." Zoe gave her a knowing look, but Jo went on, ignoring it. "But Vincent?"

Zoe shrugged. "They say he picked you up and carried you out of there. Maybe it's that Chinese proverb, where if you save a man's life, you're responsible for it."

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Should he go in, or should he wait? Maybe he should just go back to work. Zane had been telling himself for the last 20 hours he should just walk away. He hadn't been able to convince himself to that just that, though. Neither had Vincent, apparently. The two men hadn't spoken about it, but there was an understanding. This was about Jo.

Carter came out from Jo's room and Zoe darted in. Being around her had been pretty easy with their minds on something else. He hoped she would forgive him for... well, being himself. Zoe had been the last in a long string of women in his life he hadn't given too much of himself to. Then there had been Jo. He still wasn't quite sure what they were. And right now their lack of label wasn't enough to keep him away.

"Zane - I need to see that video surveillance from yesterday again."

Zane pulled out his PDA and replayed the video they had already spent a few hours going over. Jo pulling up in her car, parking, and leaning against it for fifteen minutes. A blue van pulling up, Jo walking over. There was no audio, but she was clearly upset and motioning directions for him to leave. Jo stepped back, reaching for something under her jacket, and then the explosion. Zane paused it before she started crawling away from the blaze. He hated that part.

"Jo said that she was responding to an authorized delivery. We need to find out who called it in. Maybe they have more information."

Zane nodded. "I'll come with you."

"Zane-"

Zane stopped the other man. "Look, Carter, I want to. It's not like I'm going to get anything done around here."

There was a pause where Zane thought he was going to be turned down, but finally Carter agreed. "I'll give you a few minutes," the sheriff added, nodding his head towards the room Jo was in.

"Thanks."

He didn't want to interrupt Jo's time with Zoe, so he wandered over to where Vincent was packing up the last of his equipment.

"Leaving so soon?"

"I have to get back to work. I wanted to make sure Jo was okay, you know? And now that I know she is, I don't have to worry about it." Vincent leaned in closer, whispering. "And maybe part of me felt that if I left something would happen, you know. But if I stayed..." He shrugged.

But Zane understood, and he nodded. "Thanks for being here, Vincent." And Zane meant that. "But you're not going to see her before she leaves?"

"She's tired. Besides, she'll know I was here. I left her some her of favorite soup. But honestly, I'm sure she'd want to wait to see me until she was feeling better. Stronger. More like herself. The tough ones are always the most sensitive when it comes to how they want people seeing them."

Vincent patted Zane on the shoulder as he left. Not longer after that Zoe emerged from Jo's room. She sent him a small smile as she left, too.

There wasn't anything stopping him now from seeing Jo. Nothing to keep her from knowing how long he had waited to see if she would pull through, how long he had stayed right outside where the slept. He sounded pathetic even to himself.

She looked tired and pale but awake when he entered. She smiled weakly at him. Or he thought she did - he had to tilt his head slightly to tell. "Hey Jo-Jo."

"Hey Zane."

He came closer, finally sitting nervously in the chair pulled up to her bed. She reached over and he took her hand without thinking, realizing belatedly they were bandaged. He cursed at himself in his head. The image of her dragging herself across the asphalt littered with debris with only her hands had struck such a raw nerve he needed a moment to recover. He held her hand gently.

"You scared us there for a little bit there, Jo-Jo."

"I heard you've been using me as an excuse to avoid doing your work," Jo joked. For a minute Zane's breath caught. He was about to blow it off when she continued, squeezing his hand. "Thank you. For being here."

He did his best to smile encouragingly. "Just get better, okay?"

But when he tried to pull away to stand up and meet up with Carter, she held onto his hand. Yep, her grasp was just as firm as ever.

"Zane ... I want to help. I just can't... remember. But you and Carter... you'll figure this out, right?" She sounded desperate and upset. He wanted to console her, but he wasn't sure what words to use. He didn't know anything about that kind of violence, of this kind of injury. So instead he smoothed back her hair and kissed her forehead, trying to murmur words of encouragement.

But not promises. There had been so many in his past, even between them, that he had broken. He couldn't bring himself to utter another.

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	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I just watched a couple eps of season 3 last night and this afternoon and I felt a little inspired. I don't own Eureka or the characters. I am not making money off of this or them.

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"Hey, is that, you Jimmy?"

Zane was riding shotgun on Sheriff Carter's investigation. With Zane's help, they had tracked down the call to Jo about the unauthorized delivery to a patrolman on the outskirts of Eureka. He had not responded over the radio, and his supervisor said he had been acting a little off since the previous day. Carter had climbed into his truck to go take a look, and had invited Zane along.

"Jimmy" was Patrolman James Ridley, but right now he was huddled in the bottom of a guard station the size of a phone booth, cradling his Eureka-issued stungun like a security blanket.

"Sorry-sorry," the mans stuttered, looking up. His eyes were disoriented, and Carter squatted down next to him, careful to stay away from the nozzle of the gun.

"Hey, Big Guy. You feeling okay?"

The other man shook his head as if trying to clear it. "I... I seem to be unable to move."

"Like... you're stuck?"

He nodded. "At first it was just hallucinations, and now it's as if every piece of metal is a magnet and I can't break free. I was able to get my gun off the wall, but I don't want to move for fear of it getting stuck again and being defenseless."

"You wouldn't be able to see anything through the wall anyway," Carter pointed out. The window sat well above his current vantage point.

Jimmy flipped down his night goggles, and Zane chucked. When Carter looked back at him questioningly, Zane filled him in. "They're transX particle sensors. Like Xray glasses."

"Really? Like from Mad Magazines?"

"So why didn't you call any of this in?" Zane asked, ignoring Carter's question.

"I haven't been able to get to my radio. Please - stand back. I wouldn't want you to get stuck like me."

Zane whipped out from his pocket one of his hybrid sensors. Over the past few years he'd jerry-rigged it for many uses, but today he was trying to find any indication of what could have caused this selective magnetism. Zane's zippers were still acting normal, thank goodness.

Zane walked slowly around the outside of the box, making sure to stay a safe distance away at first. He was looking for highly charged particles, magnetic rifts or surges, or anything out of the ordinary on the various levels of scans he could run. He run a chunk of them and frowned at what he found. Or, more specifically, what he didn't find.

Instead of finding a cause, Zane could not even identify a single sign of the occurrence that Patrolman Ridley was claiming to be afflicted with. Carter had continued to talk to Jimmy, but when he got a chance, Zane waved Carter over.

"Any idea what's causing this?" Carter asked, obviously looking a little spooked.

"As far as I can tell, Sheriff, it's not even happening. I don't see any indication that he's magnetized at all."

"So you think he's making it all up?"

Zane shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he really thinks it's holding him. Or he could just be messing with you."

"It can't be a coincidence that he's the only other person besides Jo who likely had any interaction with that van yesterday. Somebody doesn't want us finding out about it."

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Jo was dreaming. The worst part wasn't knowing she was, it was not being able to end it. In the dream she was watching herself walk towards a van. She knew the van was going to blow up, but she was unable to stop herself. She wanted to run towards it but before she could the van detonated and Jo found herself on the asphalt, on fire.

"Jo!"

Allison's voice pierced Jo's drug-induced nightmare and the woman gladly surrendered to consciousness.

"Jo, are you alright? Your heart rate and adrenaline levels are off the chart."

Jo took the other woman's hand, nodding. "I'm fine. Just a nightmare." She brushed it off. She had to. Emotional residue from the dream seeped through and she felt antsy. She had to help with the investigation, with figuring out who did this and why. The details of the dream were fading, and she felt helpless to stop them. Was there a clue buried somewhere in her memories, and now her dreams?

She put that out of her mind and turned back to Allison Blake, giving her a strained smile. "So Doc, tell me about my legs."

Allison cleared her throat and looked down. It had been the white elephant in the room since she had woken up earlier that day. Nobody wanted to talk to her about it.

"Come on, Allison. Don't you think I haven't noticed that not only can I no longer wiggle my big toes, I can't even feel them?"

Allison sighed. "Jo, I'm sorry. The damage is so severe that I'm not sure traditional healing methods are going to work. Not only have the muscles been severely compromised, I'm still not sure your spinal chord will be able to be rehabilitated enough to..."

Jo shook her head in denial. "This is Eureka. You said it yourself, traditional healing methods. There has to be some sort of therapy or nanotechnology that might help. Right?" That last question came out more desperate than Jo had intended, but in truth she was. She could not imagine never walking again, or running or dancing.

"Well, there might be a way. For more severe injuries where limbs are lost we have developed incredible prosthetics that are connected directly to the brain's synapses."

Jo checked to make sure her legs were still there. Yep, in casts and swathed in bandages, but still there. "That seems like it might be overkill, Allison."

Holding up a hand, Allison continued. "Part of the technology is the communication implants that transmit data directly from the brain into the prosthetic. Usually it's built right into the replacement limb. In your case, we might be able to implant it in your legs, bypassing some of the connections in your spine, allowing for a quicker recovery. It's never before been tested and your muscles would have to work hard to build up strength again..."

"But I'd be able to walk?"

"There's a chance. We also have other options, including sonic-stimulation of the cells to encourage faster healing at the cellular level, -"

Jo's head started to swim with all of the medical terminology Allison was throwing out on her. She begged her to stop for the moment. "Please - just do what iyou have to. I want to get back to work as soon as possible."

Allison looked down at her friend with sadness. "Jo... no matter what option we eventually end up going with, it's going to take some time. A lot of time."

XXXXX

Zane stopped by the infirmary on his way to his lab. Carter had some Sheriff things to do, and Zane had to admit that he really wanted to see how Jo was. He made it as far as the door.

She was crying. He thought back and the only other time he had seen her cry was when he had burned down her house, and he had felt really bad about that. It almost didn't even count. But Jo, his strong, tough Jo, sounded hopeless.

At some point she had ceased to be the "other" Jo and become his Jo. It still hurt every time she would say something like "the way it used to be" or "before." It sucked getting compared to a better version of himself he could never live up to.

He wondered if the other him would have gone in and comforted her right away. He shoved his hands in his pockets and hesitated. But the soft crying eventually grew even quieter until he couldn't hear it at all, and that was when he forced a smile on his face and walked in.

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End file.
